10-Miler 2008

Here we are before the race!

It was a wonderful day for a run - though mighty cold! No sleet or snow, so I won't complain.

Morgan and I started out running together, only because she needed a friendly running partner for the start. We managed to stay together for not even an eighth of a mile - just past the first turn, when our friend Erin popped up. Morgan took off with her and left me to run with myself.

My hope for the race was to finish, and to finish having run my average mile under 12 minutes - which would put me in front of the 12-minute-mile pace car. Not a very lofty goal at all, but certainly one that fit my training!

I stuck with the trusty Galloway method of running and walking. It worked so well for me last November in the OBX half that I really won't be able to give it up until I can get some really consistent training in - which I figure will be in about 10 years!

The race itself was great - the course is challenging, yet relaxing, too. Of course, I can say this having run slower than almost everyone else! But, to me, it is a relaxing race. The company was great too -once Morgan left me, I found myself in the periodic company of our school principal! She had signed up just the night before - what a champ! Anyway, I say periodic because while she was running the whole way with no walking - I was doing my running -walking thing. It's got to be annoying to some people to have someone do that - in fact, until I tried it I never understood why anyone would ever walk in a race! Ha, that was before I was so pitifully out of shape! Anyway, having Ashby to run with made the race that much better.

So we're running along and every so often there's music to run by, or pink ladies to cheer us, and lots of volunteers yelling the most encouraging things. With all that to distract me, all of the sudden I found myself crossing the street and facing the last hill - all that was left was to go over the railroad bridge and to the finish line.

It was all I could do to get myself up over that hill - then I saw Morgan. I heard David say to her - "run with her but don't talk to her" - funny, but true. I get a little cranky when I'm finishing a long race! But when I saw her I started asking about her time and how she felt, then came the finish line and I was done!

Thank goodness! I'm not sure I could have gone another step! Being almost the last person to finish everyone else was there waiting! It turns out that my non-runners worried about each of us when we weren't coming as soon as they thought we should be! They must have really been worried about me!!

Here's Carter's dad after running his very first road race ever! He rocked! Next stop - OBX!!!!

Here's my girl, who also rocked! She looked strong and knocked a few minutes off of last year's time!

Morgan and David kept lookout for me and ran me in -wasn't that nice?! You can tell that Morgan is telling me to look at the camera and smile for LF who was pulling double duty taking pictures and keeping track of Carter and all our non-running kids!! Ha - what a kidder! It was all I could do to cross that finish line!!